U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson

A U.S. diplomat from 1976 to 1998, Ambassador Joseph Wilson focused primarily on Africa and the Middle East. While on duty in Iraq, he was the last U.S. diplomat to meet with Saddam Hussein before the first Gulf War. Roughly a decade later, after conducting a 2002 CIA-authorized investigation into allegations that Iraq sought to purchase uranium yellowcake from Niger, Wilson found the allegations to be false. In 2003, he publicly challenged President George W. Bush for contradicting his findings in order to justify the invasion of Iraq. When media response revealed that Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame Wilson, was a CIA agent, Wilson accused the Bush administration of leaking her identity. Currently, Wilson consults broadly in international relations and business development. He is also the author of The Politics of Truth. A movie titled Fair Game, starring Sean Penn as Wilson, is scheduled for release in November 2010.